I've been hit one other time, and that was much, much more painful. It was at a local course that no longer exists called Town and Country. It was a very small, compact executive course put out on a square parcel of land. There were no trees (except by the river), and there were two par 4's that were actually 300+ yards. The rest of the course was extreme pitch 'n' putt. So people would use their drivers on the par 4's despite the fact that there was nowhere to bail. It was on the fourth hole where I was lining up to chip the ball up to the green when I was hit in the shin with someone's drive. It didn't bounce first either. This one didn't riccochet off, either. It hit my shin and went straight into the ground. I was about 15 then, and I had a bit of a hot head, so I sent it sailing back at the guy. Of course, my pitching wedge (my shortest club at the time) didn't have the same 275 yards of distance on it that he had hit it. I finished the round without thinking anything of it, but I woke up the next morning with what looked like a golf ball (dimples and all) portruding out of my leg. I couldn't put any pressure on it for about three days, and since i was a kid, I didn't go to a doctor.

Let's just say I hope to never get hit again.

But I have a new question. If I was in a competition and was hit by another competitor from behind me, would there be any penalty to the player behind me? Or if I was in the middle of the shot (and messed up my shot as a result), would there be any compensation?

So you get a 1 stroke penalty if you hit your caddie or partner...makes sense. It could be a strategic move to get the ball closer to the pin. But no penalty for hitting an opponent? Sounds kinda bunk.